Law Technology Now: Guest Craig Ball

In the April edition of my Law Technology Now podcast, I'm delighted to welcome back Austin, Texas-based attorney and e-discovery columnist Craig Ball, author of the Law Technology News column, "Ball in Your Court."

We discuss Facebook's decision to create a "one-button" tool to collect user data on its social media site, and recent e-discovery cases, including Shira Scheindlin's winter ruling about metadata requirements.

Ball's April column explains why it's just about futile to try to erase data from your computer when faced with a legal hold. Check out "Double Delete Doesn't Do It."

UPHILL CLIMB

With an approximate revenue of $2.8 billion in 2009, e-discovery vendors are slowly but steadily moving uphill again, report Minnesota consultants George Socha and Thomas Gelbmann, in their 2010 survey of EDD trends and developments.

Unlike the logrithmic rabbit leaps of the past, current growth is more tortoise-like, at the rate of 10% to 15% per year, they note in their August LTN cover story, "Climbing Back."

And in our Law Technology Now August podcast, I interview Socha and Gelbmann about the "why" of these trends, from the perspectives of law firms, law departments, and providers.

THE BIG SQUEEZE

Small firm lawyers, with small cases and even smaller budgets, sometimes feel like the proverbial David facing Goliath. But fear not: less can definitely be more. Wisconsin lawyer and consultant Ross Kodner, CEO of MicroLaw, explains how you can go to court armed with simple but effective technology tools that help you organize and present your case -- developed from software you already own.

Ross discusses his story on this month's Law Technology Now podcast, and you can read his article in the July issue of LTN.

We also discuss the just-released 2010 LTN Vendor Satisfaction Survey, conducted by our colleagues in our ALM Intelligence division. Kodner says he's not the least bit surprised that legal professionals are increasingly frustrated with vendors, and are demanding better customer service and faster resolution of problems.

Check out "Help, Please!," our July cover story, and watch for our next LTN Video, which features Erica Greathouse, IT director of Cox, Castle & Nicholson, with some delicious tales of help desk nightmares. It will be up shortly on our LTN website.

LEGAL CURRENTS

During my recent trip to Minnesota, the Thomson Reuters Legal team invited me to tape another episode of its Legal Currents podcast.

Moderator Leonard Lee and I had a lively interaction, discussing my cover story, "Risks & Rewards," in the May issue of LTN. The article, and our conversation, focused on the importance of nuanced social media policies for just about any organization. We talked about the potential problems law firms and companies can face, if personnel use social media inappropriately -- from violations of professional responsibility and ethics rules or Federal Trade Commission guidelines; to damage to reputation and branding; to harassment; and more.

And if you missed ALM's "Social Media: Risk & Rewards" programs in New York and San Francisco, no worries! We will be offering an advanced program November 3 in New York.